Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Director of Culture, Strategy and Communities. To be presented by the Cabinet Member for Placemaking & Local Economy

The Cabinet Member for Placemaking and Local Economy introduced the report.

It was explained that Haringey Council had been working towards creating an ambitious, sustainable and inclusive urban village on the Selby Centre site that improved the health and wellbeing of residents and the wider community, noting that the report recommended beginning the process to tender for a build contractor so that work could begin in March 2026 to deliver the scheme.

It was explained that the ambitions for this development had been fashioned through a collaborative, co-design process with the Selby Trust and local community for four years. Through the Memorandum of Understanding, a joint vision was set out to create an urban village in Haringey where people could have all the amenities to enjoy healthy, fulfilled lives right on their doorstep. Not only was the Council building more than 200 high-quality sustainable council homes at social rent, but it was also creating a community hub including workspace, green and open park space, and a suite of sporting facilities. The Council had a long history of working with the Selby Trust, which delivered valuable resources to the local community in Tottenham, Haringey and North London—from business support to social advice tailored to diverse communities, to food banks.

The Cabinet Member noted that phase one involved the building of the community centre, sports changing rooms, and the regenerated park facilities and sports pitches. The finished development created a hub of sporting amenities for physical and mental wellbeing and a community space where people could come together for cultural celebrations, start innovative enterprises and hold community events. The new Bull Lane Park featured extensive tree-planting, a large children’s play area, an outdoor gym and a new cycle route. Phase two brought more than 200 new homes for council tenants by November 2029, including many family-sized homes and 21 wheelchair-adapted homes for residents who struggled to find suitable housing. The scheme supported the Council’s target to build more than 3,000 genuinely affordable high-quality council homes by 2031. The homes and spaces on the Selby site were designed to high sustainability and energy efficiency standards. The site also included a commercial unit for a small local convenience store.

It was explained that the project would make a significant contribution to the aims and objectives set out in the Council’s ‘Shaping Tottenham’ strategy, serving as a beacon of excellence for urban living that enhanced North Tottenham as a destination for sports and leisure and healthy living in a sustainable environment. Selby Urban Village was expected to emerge as an exemplar of how placemaking could work for existing and new residents.

In response to comments and questions from Councillor Cawley-Harrison, the following information was shared:

• Officers explained that the Greater London Authority (GLA) were supportive of the scheme and that indications were that they would like to see it commenced, noting that they had been part of the development of the scheme and were involved in planning. It was explained any referral to the GLA would be expected to take up to eight weeks to conclude.
  
  
• It was explained by officers that the lease was subject to negotiation with the Selby Trust, which was expected to take place over the Autumn 2025. It was explained that any arrangements made would return to Cabinet in a separate report.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

1. Approved the commencement of a tendering process for a main contractor to construct Phase One and Phase Two of Selby Urban Village.
   
   
2. Approved the upper limit of the total scheme cost set out in the exempt report and delegate authority to the Lead Member for Placemaking and Local Economy, in consultation with the Section 151 Officer and the Corporate Director of Culture, Strategy and Communities, to award the contract subject to the tendered sum being within the upper limit and affordable within the context of the funding strategy.
   
   
3. Approved receipt of a maximum £2,041,298 capital grant from the Football Foundation towards the new 91 x 55m FIFA Quality 3G FTP, pavilion, grass pitch improvement and MUGA, and delivery of the aims and objectives detailed in the Football Foundation funding application and the Site Development Plan.

Reasons for Decisions

The regeneration of the Selby Centre to create the new Selby Urban Village was in line with the previously published Cabinet approval decisions set out in appendices to design the scheme and seek planning permissions. These approval decisions ensured that the Council would not lose the grant allocations it had secured, by tendering the build contract in readiness to have entered into contract by March 2026. Details of grant funding were set out in the exempt report.

Alternative Options Considered

The Council could have decided not to tender the scheme. This option was discounted as it would not have been in line with previously agreed strategic objectives for the Selby Urban Village scheme. The Council could have adopted a different procurement strategy from that set out in section 13 of the report. Alternative procurement approaches were rejected as it was deemed that the current strategy would meet the Council’s objectives in terms of the programme timescales and value for money requirements.